Utah NIL collective aims to ‘benefit every student-athlete'

The list of donor-led collectives dramatically reshaping the NIL landscape has grown again to include the Utah Utes.

LockerRoom Athletics announced the launch of UtahLockerRoom.com. LockerRoom Athletics said the Utah fan collective — which invites University of Utah fans to interact and engage with Utes’ student-athletes in a variety of ways for Name, Image, and Likeness opportunities — has witnessed rapid growth in the first month since its launch.

CEO Tony Norrie said Utah student-athletes that join the LockerRoom Athletics roster get access to NFTs and even provide booking opportunities for special events and appearances.

“Student-athletes devote a great deal of time to their academics and their sport, so being able to earn income from NIL activities that serve the strong interest from Utah fans to connect with their favorite Utes is a tremendous benefit to the student-athletes,” Norrie said.

LockerRoom Athletics said members of the Utah NIL collective are entitled to benefits like:

• LockerRoom merchandise and apparel
• Experience in the gameday LockerRoom
• LockerRoom student-athlete gear
• Limited edition memorabilia
• NFT and limited trading card drops
• Live LockerRoom events with student-athletes
• Appointments for one-on-one sessions
• Local business coupons and special offers
• Discounts on brand partner products
• Content curated by student-athletes
• Access to exclusive interviews
• Real-time video chat

According to the LockerRoom Athletics website, student-athletes get 80% of Utah LockerRoom’s membership dues. That will be distributed based on member requests to pay student players individually, in a group, or for the entire program. Furthermore, members get full access to the site and can interact with, communicate with, and hire student-athletes for NIL merchandise purchases or engagement opportunities. There are six different membership levels in the collective, ranging from $25 to $500 a month.

Utah latest to join large list of NIL collectives

The group at Utah is one of a growing number of collectives to help student-athletes attempt to monetize NIL. For example, N100 is a donor-driven collective assembled to help Nebraska student-athletes monetize their NIL. Rising Spear – a Name, Image and Likeness collective focused on Florida State – announced a new partnership this week and the list grows day by day.

Collectives, which are independent of a university, can serve a variety of purposes. Most often, they pool funds from boosters and businesses, help facilitate NIL deals for athletes and also create their own ways for athletes to monetize their brands. Industry sources expect every Power 5 school to be affiliated with at least one NIL-related collective in a few months. 

However, LockerRoom Athletics says its model is also a bit different because it focuses on all the student-athletes. Instead of just targeting players from the money sports.

“The 99% of student-athletes who aren’t in the ‘money sport’ benefit the most from NIL since most are on partial scholarship or a walk-on, having to pay their way,” LockerRoom Athletics says on its social media. “So, for these athletes — our athletes — any type of paying NIL gig is a great thing.

“Student-athletes love their sport and have a tremendous passion to compete. It’s in their DNA. As much as people want to think it’s all about the best NIL money, it’s not. Athletes want to have fun, learn, play, build friendships and win. For most, NIL is a bonus.”

An NIL Thread.
This is an example of what the typical NIL looks like for our Student Athletes. Since we focus on getting as many athletes to engage with each campaign, our athletes will split & share in the campaign equally. So it's $100 to 20 athletes instead of $2K to one. pic.twitter.com/E4SUSIL698

— LockerRoomNIL – NIL for ALL (@getlockerroom) April 12, 2022